The Broncos are considered the best team in the league, and they're playing like it. Denver moved to 4-0 after a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and has now won 15 straight regular season games. The margin of each victory has been by seven points or more, which ranks second in NFL history to the 1941-42 Chicago Bears, who racked up 16 straight such wins.

IRVING — There is a sliver of good news for a Cowboys defense that feels as if it’s just now getting over a case of food poisoning.

OK, that’s a lie. It’s impossible to escape the nausea when you look at what’s next on the menu.

A defense unable to remind Philip Rivers of his erratic past now faces the only quarterback in the NFL who is hotter than Rivers. That would be Denver’s Peyton Manning.

One Manning has already thrown for 450 yards against the Cowboys this season. What will this one do?

This question looms in the wake of a loss to the Chargers in which the Cowboys gave up 506 yards, with 401 of those coming through the air. But it’s not the only question.

Say defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin devises a scheme that holds Manning to an average performance. Keep in mind that an average game for the Broncos quarterback this season is 367 yards through the air with four touchdowns passes.

This puts the pressure back on the Cowboys’ offense. Has this group shown enough big-play capability to keep up with the Broncos?

Quarterback Tony Romo has thrown just one interception through four games. The emphasis on ball security has paid off.

But it has not paid the dividends the Cowboys had hoped. The team is 2-2, just as it was through four games the last two seasons, even though Romo has been much more efficient.

The offense isn’t turning the ball over nearly as much. But it has also been held to two touchdowns or fewer in three of its four games.

Romo’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant in Sunday’s loss was his longest completion of the afternoon. No other pass picked up more than 14 yards against a San Diego defense that entered the game ranked last against the pass.

Head coach Jason Garrett doesn’t buy the argument that the Cowboys’ desire to protect the football prevents them from taking shots down the field.

“I think you can make big plays without turning the ball over,” Garrett said. “I think over Tony’s career he’s demonstrated that.

“If we’re running it, if we’re protecting it, I believe you can make some of those plays. We’ve just got to do that on a more consistent basis.”

The Cowboys’ defense had been consistent and good this season until the second half of the San Diego game. While the struggles of cornerback Morris Claiborne and linebacker Bruce Carter have received the most attention, the line didn’t apply the pressure it did in the first three games.

“They did not play to their level,” Garrett said.

A defense that accrued 13 sacks in the first three games got to Rivers only once behind a patchwork offensive line. Defensive end DeMarcus Ware failed to record a sack after picking up four in his previous two games.

“When you have a quarterback effective like Philip Rivers, getting off the ball really fast, it really doesn’t matter what the rush is doing,” Ware said. “He’s getting off the ball in like two seconds.

“But when he does hold the ball, we weren’t effective enough as a rush team in getting pressure on him. We’ve got to work on that this week.”

There is plenty to work on in the next five days. A challenge bigger than the one the Cowboys faced in San Diego awaits.

“We didn’t play the way we had been playing on defense, and we just have to address that first and foremost,” Garrett said. “And then you get to the next challenge, which is Peyton Manning.

“It will be a great challenge for our team.”

Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310) three days a week with The Musers (Mon.-Wed.-Fri.) at 9:35 a.m., twice a week (Tue.-Fri.) with The Hardline at 4:15 p.m. and twice a week (Mon.-Thu.) with BaD Radio at 2:35 p.m. during the regular season.

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